I am really looking forward to exploring this website (thanks to Barista).
In a not entirely unrelated vein, I see that there’s been a recent flurry of pie throwing at right-wing American speakers. Disgraceful behaviour, of course, of course, but only pies? That’s nothing.
In the 18th century, crowds would throw anything at someone they disapproved of. Howell Harris, the Welsh Methodist preacher, recorded coming under fire from a variety of missiles: dirt, dung, eggs, rotten food, a dead dog. They could be lethal: another Methodist, William Seward, was stoned to death at Hay-on-Wye.
But then, that kind of action was, quite often, officially permitted, indeed encouraged. Those punished for various crimes by a spell in the pillory stood with a notice setting out their offence for the public to pass judgement by pelting them with verbal abuse and physical objects. (There were two, contradictory, potential problems for authorities: the public might a) sympathise with the convict and refuse to play its ‘proper’ part in this ritual of public justice; or b) refuse to be contained, even kill the convict.)
And speaking of dogs, take another look at the foreground of the famous print by Hogarth.
7 comments on “Crowds (and pies)”
LOL! (Now ROTFL because I just typed LOL!) A dead dog would definitely be worse than a pie.
Totally unrelated: I see you’re enjoying Herbie Hancock. At least, you’re listening to him, and for a zany jazz freak like myself, listening entails enjoying with the inevitability of modus ponens.
I don’t have very much jazz (not sure if the Jazz Jamaica album counts, though it’s fun) and what I have is random gifts and friends’ castoffs, but I like Herbie.
It’s a *pie*. Rude, yes. But there were a number of these incidents in Canada, and you know, no one dies from a pie. Plus, isn’t it classier to respond to that calmly than in hysterics?
Ah, if only
The missile of choice in the General Election campaign so far appears to be the humble egg. Oona King got one the other day (that’s shaping up for a dirty campaign generally), and one for John Prescott – OK, John Prescott’s bus – yesterday. (Will anyone take on the man himself after last time?)
I still can’t help thinking that it’s a waste of a good pie.
Only if you use a good pie. I seem to recall that the standard pie-missile for stage use is just whipped cream in a pie shell. But we had an incident right here on the island of a radio host/comedian getting pied with a homemade, organic, banana cream pie (something about his support for militarism because he reads National Guard ads on the air: really lousy choice of targets, but we don’t get a lot of targets of opportunity on the island, I guess). He didn’t think it was funny, and that’s definitely a waste.
It’s not the pie that counts – it’s the dish.